Dispenser for spirally rolled paper



Oct. 10, 1961 w. s. GRAHAM 3,003,671

DISPENSER FOR SPIRALLY ROLLED PAPER Filed Nov. 1, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1IN VEN TOR.

Oct. 19.61 w. s. GRAHAM 3,003,671

DISPENSER FOR SPIRALLY ROLLED PAPER Filed Nov. 1, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2IN V EN TOR.

United States Patent 3,003,671 DISPENSER FOR SPIRALLY ROLLED PAPERWilliam S. Graham, 3032 College Ave., Berkeley 5, Calif. Filed Nov. 1,1957, Ser. No. 694,011 3 Claims. (Cl. 22577) This invention relates todispensers for spirally rolled paper and particularly relates todispensers for such rolled paper which has very limited body substance,commonly referred to as toilet tissue, wherefore a roller is manuallyoperated to advance a strip of paper for shearing in casual, selective,unmeasured lengths.

This invention relates to my copending application for patent, SerialNo. 493,343, filed March 10, 1955, now Patent No. 2,834,557, dated May13, 1958.

In a shop, garage, kitchen or for toilet purposes, and in numerous otherenvironments it is frequently desirable to use a selectively large orsmall strip of paper to wipe the face or fingers, or to clean or dryutensils or the like. Among the objects of this invention are to providea device having a roller for manually advancing such a strip of paperfrom a paper roll to a shearing edge; to provide means for supporting apaper roll and maintaining its circumferential face in rotativefrictional contact with the dispenser; to provide means to vary the dragof such rotation; to provide a paper'dispensing apparatus which isadapted for use in either vertical or horizontal position; and toprovide such a device which is compact and flat for boxing and shipment.In the absence of mechanical means for advancing the paper for shearing,the dispensing operation is manual, and is initially by finger pressureupon a free end portion of a strip of the paper which extends over aroller, and thus advancing the paper strip relative to a shearing edgewhere it may be firmly gripped for further extension and shearing.

Briefly described, the invention comprises a device for dispensingspirally rolled paper in selective lengths, and having a face plate uponwhich the roll of paper may be supported, the forward end portion ofwhich has a space thereunder, with a transverse roller therein, thecircumference of the roller extending through a slot in the plane of theface plate. Also at the forward end is a guide plate having an openingcentrally thereof for finger access to the roller and being spaced abovethe face plate to provide a guide slot for receiving a strip of papertherethrough, the forward terminal edge of the guide plate having ashearing edge. At a rearward portion the face plate mounts a suitablemeans for rotatively holding a roll of spirally rolled paper in a mannerto maintain the circumference of the roll in rotational frictionalcontact transversely of the face plate. The rotatively mounted roll ofpaper by its weight against the face plate provides an automatic brakeby rotational frictional resistance or drag at its circumference, andmeans may be provided for varying the frictional drag and braking elfectin accordance with the size and weight of the paper roll.

In order to more clearly describe the invention, longitudinal isreferred to as the direction from a forward shearing edge toward anopposite rearward end, and lateral or transverse is perpendicularthereto; the back supporting face of the base is the face upon which thebase rests, and the face plate is opposite and generally parallelthereto, though not necessarily geometrically parallel since there maybe slight relative incline from front to back which is more forappearance than function.

Preferred forms in which the invention may be exemplified are describedherein and illustrated in the accom- 3,003,671 Patented Oct. 10, 1961ice FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a modified.

form of a guide plate of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another modified form of the invention,incorporating a guide plate into a cover, a portion of the cover memberbeing broken away.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical section on line 8-8 ofFIG. 7.

Referring to the drawings in which like reference characters indicatecorresponding parts in the several views of the respective forms of theinvention, and referring firstly to FIGS. 1 to 3, a supporting basemember is generally indicated it the upper face of which is a smoothface plate 11 which is preferably substantially flat and planar, andwhichrnay be inclined downwardly from the forward end to its rearwardend, though substantially parallel with the plane of a supporting backface 12. The face plate 11, and more particularly its forward orshearing end portion 11a is spaced relative to the bottom or plane ofthe supporting back face 12 of the base member, as at 14, so that itsforward shearing end is thereby spaced from the surface on which thedevice is supported, such spacing of the face plate at said forward endproviding in the forward wall an elevation for a finger opening 13 andan inset space 16, the forward transverse portion 11a of the face plateoverlying said finger opening 13 and space 16. Spaced rearwardly fromits forward end the said forward portion 11a of the face plate has anelongated transverse roller slot 15 therethrough communicating withspace 16, the transverse elongated edges of which are bevelleddivergingly downwardly as at 15a.

A transverse rotatably mounted elongated roller preferably of a singleroller unit 17 is disposed in the roller slot 15, being mounted in space16 and spaced rearwardly from the finger opening 13 of the forward wall,the roller being rotatable on pins 13 which are mounted in supportblocks 19 within the space 16 underlying the said forward portion of theface plate, the circumference of the roller having close rotativeclearance with the elongated edges of roller slot 15, and moreparticularly the forward elongated edge of said slot, a portion of saidcircumference extending slightly above the upper face of the face plateinto a guide slot 21, the said portion of the circumference of theroller being closely spaced below the plane of an opposed face of anoverlying guide plate 20, to provide a lateral transverse space betweensaid portion of the circumference of the roller and the guide platesuflicient for a strip of paper to slide freely therethrough in anonangular substantially aligned path paralielly along and insuperficial slidable contact with the planar face plate. Divergingelongated edges 15a of roller slot 15 provide for a close rotativeclearance between said slot edges and the circumference of the roller. 7

The guide plate 20 is mounted laterally transversely and parallellyoverlying the upper face of the forward end portion 11a of the faceplate, in sufficiently vertically spaced relation to provide atransverse planar guide slot opening 21 between the guide plate and theunderlying face plate portion and the circumference of the roller, forslidably receiving therethrough a strip of the paper 22a which has beendrawn from a spirally wound roll 22, rotatively mounted on a bracket tobe described. The guide slot 21 is of a width laterally transversely ofthe face plate to generally directionally align the ends of the guide.slot

with the transverse width of that portion of the face plate which iscontacted by the circumference of the paper roll, allowing for amplefree slidable clearance so that a strip of paper drawn from the roll maybe generally aligned with and slide through said guide slot.

The forward edge of the guide plate is substantially coterminous with,but preferably inset rearwardly a very short space (about 7 inch) fromthe forward edge of the underlying face plate. At said forward edge theguide plate is provided with a toothed or serrated shearing edge 24 tofacilitate shearing the strip of paper thereagainst, the small rearwardinset of the shearing edge from the substantially coterminous forwardedge of the face plate thus serving as a guard against possible injuryto the hand of the operator against the shearing edge. The terminal rearedge portion of the guide plate 20 may be flanged upwardly in a lip tofacilitate initially guiding the paper strip 22a to sliding positionunder the guide plate whenever necessary, such as when a new roll ofpaper is installed.

Since a previously sheared strip of paper will have terminated at theshearing edge 24 and not be available at the shearing edge for fingergrip, the guide plate 20 is provided with a guide opening 26 through itsplanar portion centrally of the transverse dimension of the guide plate,the lateral transverse side edges of the opening being spaced from thecorresponding edges of the guide plate, the central position of theopening tending to confine the stress of pull to the center line of thepaper strip. The guide opening 26 overlies the roller slot 15 and roller17, said slot and the full diameter of the fingerpress-area of thecircumference of the roller extending laterally transverselysubstantially the full transverse width of the guide-plate opening 26.Because the roller is hidden by the overlying strip of paper and becauseof the thinness of the paper and its lack of resistant body, it isdesirable that the paper he supported by the roller across the entirewidth of opening 26, since such paper will, under stress of manualfinger pressure, crimp and deform into any substantial space where it isunsupported by the circumference of the roller, wherefore thisrelationship of width of the guide plate opening relative to the lengthof the full circumferential portion of the roller is quite important,especially in dispensing relatively thin paper, such as toilet tissuepaper. A roller 17 is spaced rearwardly from the shearing edge, saidshearing edge providing a guide strip 26a having a guide edge 26b whichis rearwardly spaced from the shearing edge and forwardly of the roller17 providing a free area of the face plate portion 11a which underliesthe opening 26 between the roller slot and said guide edge, whereby anoperator may exert finger pressure through the opening 26 simultaneouslyupon the strip 22a of the paper which overlies the roller within theguide slot 21 and upon the exposed circumference of roller 17, and byslight manual frictional pressure and forward movement of the finger inthe direction of the shearing edge may manually draw the paper forwardacross the free area of the face plate and under said guide edge 26b andthrough the portion of the guide slot adjacent to the shearing edge,whereby an extended terminal free edge portion of the paper strip isextended beyond the shearing edge 24, whereupon said extended portionmay be gripped between hte fingers of the operator for furtherWithdrawal of the desired length, and, by manual upward agd sidewisepull, it may be severed against the shearing e go.

The provision of the front-wall opening 13 and the inset space 16permits other fingers of the operators hand to-be conveniently insertedtherein whereby, as the end edge portion of the paper is pulled forwardfree of the guide slot, it is automatically positioned between theoperators fingers which are respectively above and below the extendedportion of the paper strip, as shown in broken lines in FIG. 3.

Means are provided at the opposite or rearwardly portion of the faceplate for rotatively supporting the roll of paper 22. Preferably suchmeans maintains the circumference of the roll in rotative frictionalcontact with the face plate. Such means may comprise a bracket generallyindicated 27 pivotally mounted transversely of said opposite or rearwardportion of the face plate by means of a crossbar 28 freely pivotallyengaged at said rearward portion under one or more pivot straps 29 whichare preferably closed at the rearward end thereof as at 30 so that thecrossbar 28 may be held thereunder. Each of the opposite ends of thecrossbar may he stayed against transverse movement by stop members 31.Extending perpendicularly from the opposite ends of the crossbar areresiliently springable bracket arms 32 which extend forwardly toward theshearing end and which have their free terminal ends turned opposinglyinwardly to provide bearing pins 33 which swing in the arc of theirradius arms 32. The pins 33 are manifestly for rotatively supporting theroll of spirally wound paper 22 which may be mounted thereon by means ofan elongated spindle 34, the opposite ends of which rotatively receivesaid inturned pins 33. Such rolls of spirally wound paper arecustomarily provided with an axial opening and tubular core 35 centrallythereof for receiving the spindle. Since it is preferred that the paperroll may be maintained against wobbling on its axis, the spindlepreferably has a conveniently close slid-able fit in such a core.

Because of the smoothness and planar alignment of the face plate, thereis an absence of angles around which the dispensed strip of paper mustbe pulled, and the strip of paper may slide in a plane along the planarface of the face plate in substantial co-planar contact therewith. Andbecause of the narrow line of contact of the roll against the face plateand the positive movement of the dispensed strip by manual pressure onthe portion of the circumference of roller 17 which extends throughroller slot 15, there is a minimum of contact resistance or drag of thepaper against the face plate in the rotational dispensing thereof,although the maintaining of the relatively narrow transverse strip ofthe circumference of the roll against the face plate as at 36 provides abraking force against rotational over-ride.

However, if desired, there may also be provided a differential brakingmeans against rotation of the paper roll in accordance with the size andweight of the paper roll, providing decreased rotational drag when theroll is relatively large and heavy and increased drag when the rollbecomes smaller from use, either of these respective braking controlsmay be employed singly or. collectively, their relative importance andeffectiveness depending appreciably on the weight and surface characterof the paper roll and whether the device is used at vertical orhorizontal position. In this connection it will be noted that the axesof free terminal ends 33 of the bracket arms 32 swing the paper rolltowards the face plate in the arc of said free terminal ends, so thatthe circumferential contact 36 of the roll moves forwardly on the faceplate as the roll becomes smaller, as best illustrated in FIG. 2.

The exemplified means to minimize the rotational drag of the paper rollagainst the face plate when the roll is large and heavy compriseslongitudinal tracks or rails 37 upraised from the face plate andrelatively transversely spaced, the tracks or rails being of lesscollective width than that portion of the face plate which the paperroll would otherwise contact, said rails being of sufi'icient length andposition to support the paper roll when it is of maximum circumferenceand weight and the bracket arms are more nearly at the zenith of theirarc. These rails may terminate at their rearward end in the pivot straps29. r

The upraised rail strips 37 are preferably inclined upwardly from frontto rear and fade at their forward ends into the general plane of anintermediate portion38 of the face plate which underlies the axis of thespindle of paper may slide in a plane from the circumference of thepaper roll across said portion of the circumference of the roller andthrough the guide slot to the shearing edge, the saidguide-plate-opening being centrally of the guide plate and spaced fromthe opposite lateral transverse edges of the guide plate, whereby fingerpressure on a strip of paper and the roller may be confined to thetransversely central portion of the paper strip in the guide slot.

2. A paper dispenser device as set forth in claim 1, said base having atits forward end an opening communicating with the space underlying theforward end portion of the face plate, the roller being spacedrearwardly from said forward end opening of the base, whereby access isprovided under said forward end portion of the face plate for insertingfingers of an operator thereunder.

3. A .paper dispenser device as set forth in claim 1 and in which theroller has relatively spaced circumferential in the guide plate, and theedge portion of the face plate forwardly'of the roller at said slot hastongues extending into said grooves.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS489,787 Bowen Jan. 10, 1893 909,599 Hotchkiss Jan. 12, 1909 1,423,336Korittke July 18, 1922 2,125,754 Steiner Aug. 2, 1938 2,224,100 GautierDec. 3, 1940 2,834,557 Graham May 13, 1958 v FOREIGN PATENTS Sweden Aug.12, 1952 as the are of the bracket arms moves the spindle forwardly anddownwardly progressively as the paper roll becomes smaller incircumference and lighter in weight, whereby'the roll of paper restsupon the intermediate portion 'of the face plate the entire width of theroll, and thus has greater proportional frictional drag to rotation. Asthe rollcontinues to become smaller, the arc of the bracket arms movesthe axis of rotation of the roll farther forwardly until finally, whenthe paper of the roll approaches its minimum of circumference androtates relatively more easily and rapidly for a given length of thedispensed strip, it has the least weight and circumference contact withthe face plate; wherefore, the face plate may have a transverse integralroughened strip 39 to create a greater frictional drag of the paper rollagainst the face plate.

In FIGS. 4 and 5 there is shown a modified form of roller and adjacentedge of the slot in which the roller rotates. In use'of very thinlight-weight paper such as commonly called toilet tissue there may be atendency when the paper is drawn over the roller for the paper to crimpinto the very narrow space indicated x between the roller and theadjacent forward edge of the slot in the face plate, due to thesimultaneous downard and forward finger pressure on the paper and rollerthereunder. This is particularly true if the paper has transverseperforations as is common in such thin toilet tissue. To remedy such acondition the modified roller 17a is provided with axially spacedcircumferential grooves 17b and the adjacent forward edge of the faceplate and modified roller slot 15b are provided with relatively smalltongues or tabs 11b which extend into the grooves 1712 with clearance topermit rotation of the roller. It will be noted that in the modifiedroller a circumferential portion of the roller is provided at eachopposite end so that there is a circumferential portion of the rolleraccessible to finger pressure for the entire width of opening 26 of theguide plate. As the paper passes over the roller responsive to fingerpressure the grooved roller and tongues 11b guide the paper over theedge x and thus avoids crimping of the paper strip into the said slot.It is not believed necessary to provide the tongues in the edge of theface-plate-slot rearwardly of the roller because the movement of theroller is rotatively upwardly at that edge. In other respects the deviceof FIGS. 4 and 5 is similar to that shown in FIGS. 1 to 3.

In FIG. 6 a modified form of guide plate is shown, providing for aremovable guide plate in order that it may be cleaned or replaced, theopposite ends of the guide plate 20a being flanged as at 2012 to spacethe guide plate from the face plate, said ends of the guide plateslidably fitting into tracks 23a at opposite edges of the forward endportion of the face plate. In other respects the modification shown inFIG. 6 is similar to FIGS. 1 to 3. 7

Any suitable hinged cover member may be provided for enclosing the paperroll, one form being exemplified in FIGS. 7 and 8 in which there isshown a cover for the bracket and paper roll which integrally combinestherewith the guide plate, the shearing edge, and the fingerpressopening in the guide plate. More particularly, the cover generallyindicated 41 in FIG. 7 comprises a planar forward end portion whichoverlies the forward end portion 11a of the face plate and constitutes aguide plate portion 20c, being vertically spaced parallel to theunderlying face plate portion by means of hinged ears 42 mounted onhinged pins 43 at the forward end of each of the side walls of the base,thus providing the guide slot 21a for receiving a strip of dispensedpaper therethrough. The guide plate portion 200 has a serrated shearingedge 24a at its forward terminal edge and an opening 26c for fingerpressure as previously described, the guide edge of said opening beingindicated 26d.

The opposite ends of the guide slot 21a are closed by perpendicularlyfianging over the longitudinal edges 230 of the guide plate portion intoreleasable close fit against the side walls of the base. Instead ofhaving a terminal upturned rearward edge to the guide plate (asindicated 25 in FIGS. 1 to 3), the rearward portion of the guide plateof FIGS. 7 and 8 flares concavely integrally upwardly, as at 44, andcontinues in a convex arcuate cover portion 45 of sufficient arc tohouse therein a roll of paper mounted on the bracket 27, obviouslyallowing sufiicient clearance for rotation of the paper roll. Theopposite or rear end of the cover member. may have any suitable meansfor releasable connection to the rear end portion of the base, such asby Well-known slots and wing nuts generally indicated 46.

The positioning of the hinge pins 43 and the pivot position of the hingecars 42 are such that when the cover is swung on the hinge, the are ororbit of movement of the shearing edge 24a will be sufficient so thatthe shearing edge will not be injured by striking the forward wall ofthe base. If the cover is hingedly mounted as shown in FIG. 7, it ispreferred that the hinge be at the forward end of the base because, ifthe cover hinge be at the rearward end and the device be permanentlymounted vertically to a wall, the arcuate portion of the cover could notmove sufficiently rearwardly to provide con venient access to thebracket for mounting a roll of paper.

Having described the invention, I claim:

1. A dispensing device for spirally rolled paper, comprising a basemember having a flat planar face plate, the forward portion of the faceplate being spaced from the plane of a supporting back face of the base,said base having a space under said forward portion of the face plate,said forward portion of the face plate having an elongated lateraltransverse roller slot therethrough in overlying communication with saidspace, a guide plate laterally transversely overlying said forwardportion of the face plate and parallelly spaced from said forwardportion of the face plate sufliciently to provide a guide slottherebetween for slidably receiving a strip of paper therethrough, anelongated single roller unit rotatably mounted laterally transversely ofthe base in said space and underlying said roller slot, a portion of thecircumference of the roller extending through said roller slot andthrough the plane of the upper face of the face plate and spacedsufliciently below the plane of the opposed face of the guide plate toprovide a lateral transverse space through the guide slot and over theroller for slidably receiving a strip of paper therethrough in analigned path parallel with the planar face plate, the circumference ofthe roller having close rotative slidable clearance with the forwardedge of said roller slot, a terminal shearing edge at the forward edgeof the guide plate, the said guide plate extending from the shearingedge rearwardly beyond said roller slot and roller and having aguide-plate-opening therethrough overlying the said roller slot androller, the roller having a circumferential portion extendingsubstantially the entire transverse width of the guide-pl-ate-opening,said guide-plateopening being freely open for finger pressuretherethrough upon the roller and having a guide edge portion spacedrearwardly from the shearing edge and forwardly from said rollersulficiently to provide an underlying planar portion of the face platebetween the roller slot and said guide edge exposed to finger pressurethrough the guide-plate-opening, whereby finger pressure may be exertedthrough the entire width of said guide-plate-opening upon acircumferential part of said roller and a strip of paper thereover formanual advancement of the paper strip through the guide slot toward theshearing edge, and pivotally mounted bracket means mounted at theopposite rearward planar portion of the face plate adapted for rotatablymounting a roll of spirally Wound paper and maintaining thecircumference of the paper roll in rotative frictional contact with anunderlying surface of the planar face plate adjacent thereto whereby astrip

